Consider relicensing to a permissive license (MIT/Apache-2.0) for enterprise adoption

pytest-rerunfailures is licensed under MPL-2.0 (Mozilla Public License 2.0). While MPL-2.0 is an OSI-approved open source license, its copyleft provisions create adoption barriers in enterprise environments.

From pyproject.toml:
license.text = "MPL-2.0"

Why This Matters

Enterprise organizations running security/license scanners (Snyk, Black Duck, FOSSA, WhiteSource) commonly have policies that flag or block MPL-2.0 dependencies because:

1. File-level copyleft: Any modifications to MPL-2.0 licensed files must be released under the same license
2. Distribution triggers: Distributing the software (e.g., in Docker images, CI pipelines, packaged test frameworks) can trigger compliance obligations
3. Legal review overhead: Each MPL-2.0 dependency typically requires legal review and an exception approval process

In practice, this means teams that want to use pytest-rerunfailures in enterprise CI/CD pipelines either:

• Go through a lengthy legal exception process
• Build custom retry plugins from scratch to avoid the dependency

We chose the latter — building a ~190-line custom retry plugin that reimplements the core functionality (--reruns, --reruns-delay, per-test @pytest.mark.flaky) using pytest_runtest_protocol and
runtestprotocol. It works, but it's duplicated effort that wouldn't be necessary under a permissive license.

Context: The pytest Ecosystem is Permissive

Most of the pytest plugin ecosystem uses permissive licenses:

  ┌──────────────────────┬──────────────────────┐
  │       Package        │       License        │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest               │ MIT                  │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-xdist         │ MIT                  │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-html          │ MPL-2.0 (same issue) │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-playwright    │ Apache-2.0           │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-asyncio       │ Apache-2.0           │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-cov           │ MIT                  │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-mock          │ MIT                  │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-timeout       │ MIT                  │
  ├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┤
  │ pytest-rerunfailures │ MPL-2.0              │
  └──────────────────────┴──────────────────────┘

pytest-rerunfailures is one of the few popular pytest plugins that uses a copyleft license. This creates friction for teams that can freely use the rest of the ecosystem.

Suggestion

Consider relicensing to MIT or Apache-2.0 to align with the broader pytest ecosystem and remove enterprise adoption barriers.

This package has no transitive dependencies beyond packaging and pytest itself (both permissive). A license change would have no upstream implications.

I understand relicensing requires consent from all contributors, and this may not be a simple change. But given the package's role as essential testing infrastructure, a permissive license would
significantly broaden adoption in enterprise environments where license compliance is non-negotiable.

Our Workaround

For reference, we built a custom replacement (~190 lines) that provides:

• --retries N CLI flag (equivalent to --reruns)
• --retry-delay CLI flag (equivalent to --reruns-delay)
• @pytest.mark.retry(count=N) marker (equivalent to @pytest.mark.flaky)
• Full protocol re-run (setup + call + teardown) so Playwright fixtures get fresh browser contexts

This works but represents duplicated community effort.

Environment

• pytest-rerunfailures 16.1
• Python 3.13
• Snyk enterprise license policy (blocks MPL-2.0)

Start with the license metadata in pyproject.toml and review the contributor history to determine whose consent is required. The maintainers must decide between MIT and Apache-2.0 and obtain agreement from all contributors before changing the project license. Done means the chosen license is approved and the repository metadata reflects it.